“History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon
This day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.”
–Maya Angelou
from “On The Pulse of Morning”
Once a year, a month is set aside to honor African-American history. For a short 28 days, the culture is celebrated with a festival of films, lectures, exhibits and activities. Young school children all over the nation spend the month of February learning about a handful of African-Americans who made a contribution to this world, but once children leave elementary school, or maybe junior high, the lessons they learned about African-American history are often forgotten.
A number of individuals, like Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Carter G. Woodson, W.E.B. DuBois, William C. Nell, George Washington Williams and John W. Cromwell, have pioneered over the centuries to help African-Americans achieve the status the culture has in society today.
As a civilization we need to learn about each other’s ethnic groups in order to survive. ULV is making an effort to do just that. The University has instituted a new general education requirement in international/intercultural experience, which will be implemented starting with next year’s freshmen class. The Campus Times is pleased by the new requirement. Although this requirement will not apply to students already attending ULV, those students should take advantage of the classes which will be offered under the new requirement.
We cannot help but learn from the efforts of African-American civil rights leaders and teachers, as well as other freedom fighters like Cesar Chavez, without whose leadership and bravery, America would still be in the days where slavemasters beat and sold Africans.
In a month which offers praise to African-Americans, take time to pick up a book and learn about another ethnic group. America is a conglomeration of many cultures, so learn and appreciate what we all have to put in to it.
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.